Foaming mugs of butterbeer, chocolate frogs at Honeydukes, fire-breathing dragons and broomsticks. Muggles, rejoice. It’s all here at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

The new amusement park, part of the larger Universal Studios’ Islands of Adventure in Orlando, Fla., drew plenty of hoopla when it opened last summer — and it’s no wonder. Potter fans can’t help but be transcended by the iconic turrets of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry that tower over the charming, snow-topped village of Hogsmeade.

With the last of the Harry Potter movies headed for the big screen in July, the world is likely to become even more focused on this magical corner of the theme park world. But if you go, be prepared: As awesome as this Wizarding World is, size-wise it’s like one of the lands — Tomorrowland, for example, or Fantasyland — that comprise Disney’s Magic Kingdom, but with fewer rides.

Somehow, we Hogwarts fanatics were under the impression that what opened last summer was just the beginning of what would ultimately become a sprawling, magical landscape, something that would keep us firmly planted in Harry-heaven — riding rides and spending money profligately — for days on end.

Instead, rabid Gryffindors must traverse neighboring Seussville and Sinbad terrain to reach this magical, but small, corner of Islands of Adventure and its three rides. And two of those rides are reboots of existing roller coasters. One is a fairly tame roller coaster called Flight of the Hippogriff, suitable for kids as well as less-daring grown-ups; the other is a brain-scrambling dual coaster, the Dragon Challenge, that flips, tips and twirls at speeds best suited to a Firebolt broomstick.

On the latter, two dragon coasters take off simultaneously, then whip, swerve, twist and bend in a mad race, at one point coming within 18 inches of each other. To fully appreciate the ride, you need to go around twice, once on the blue dragon (a Hungarian Horntail) and once on the red (a Chinese Fireball). We do not recommend accomplishing this feat back-to-back.

After the first round, one of us had to go sit down in a quiet, dark place until she could remember her own name — and the locker number where she’d stashed our purses. The other, more intrepid reporter gleefully boarded the dragon for a second go-round — then spent a few minutes in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom trying to stop the world from spinning.

But it’s the Forbidden Journey ride that makes the Wizarding World of Harry Potter worth the price of admission. And judging by the crowds elbowing their way through Hogsmeade to Hogwarts’ castle, it appears to be the attraction that is keeping Universal, with its dated attractions — including salutes to “Jaws” and “Men in Black” — swimming in sickles, galleons and Muggle dollars.

The ride is pitch-perfect on every level, from its welcoming greeting from a Professor Dumbledore projection, to the talking portraits and familiar bickering between Ron and Hermione. When Harry offers to sneak you into a Quidditch match, the ride’s creators have ensured that there’s no problem with the whole suspension-of-reality thing. It all feels absolutely real, from the smell of wood smoke to encounters with Dementors, the Whomping Willow and, thanks to Hagrid, a fire-breathing dragon. Riders are turned upside down, spun around and left absolutely dazzled at every turn.

Afterward, you are left to wander Hogsmeade with little else to do but wait for your brain to stop spinning — so you can ride again.

Universal’s amusement parks have never quite lived up to the pristine, almost-militaristic precision that is Disneyland. But they’ve come close with Harry Potter. In Hogsmeade, the shops remind us of all the things we love about J.K. Rowling’s series.

A mandrake wails in a shop window, owls hoot and turn in the rafters outside the Owl Post Office, and even the ATM gives a nod to magic as a branch of Gringott’s, the wizarding bank. Myrtle’s disembodied voice floats out of the stalls in the girls’ restroom — maybe the boys’ too, we didn’t check that one out.

And you can buy amazingly delicious butterbeer at the Hog’s Head as well as from street vendors. (Butterbeer is a nonalcoholic drink. If you’re looking for something stronger, the kilt-wearing bartender has a number of dusty bottles of fire whiskey that may do the trick.)

So it’s no surprise that long lines loop through Hogsmeade as families wait 45 minutes or more, even during the offseason, for the chance to visit Ollivander’s and have a wand “choose” you.

It’s billed as the amusement park’s fourth attraction but really, it’s 20 people at a time crowding into the small, iconic shop to watch as one lucky child tests wands. Drawers bang around alarmingly, and a blast of wind makes the child’s hair gently wave as wand No. 3 picks him — low-tech special effects but cool anyway, especially if you’re the kid.

(If all you really want is to buy a wand — starting at $29.95 — in atmospheric surroundings, enter the shopping portion of the store from the back of the building without any wait at all. If your heart is set on watching the magic, brief as it is, wait till late afternoon when Hogsmeade is in deep shade and the lines shorten dramatically.)

Express passes, which cost $29-$49, depending on the day, will shorten the wait for most rides, but not, we’re sorry to say, for Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey. Wait times here ran anywhere from 10 to 90 minutes in April.

Don’t want to wait that long? Hit the ride at the end of the day, when exhausted Muggles have headed home. Or if you’ve already ridden the ride once, take the single-rider option. You need to experience the long lines first, otherwise you’ll bypass the magic inside, which includes a visit to Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Dumbledore’s office and other walk-through spectacles that we still found riveting on our second, third and fourth trips through.

By the sixth (ahem, yes, we rode it six times), we were content with rabbiting our way past the lines and becoming singletons, ready to leap into a four-seater car with someone else’s group.

Less-fanatical fans may prefer interspersing an afternoon at Hogwarts with trips to Epcot and Orlando’s many other attractions. But we managed to spend two and half days here, mixing visits to Universal Studios and other locales in Universal’s Islands of Adventures with return treks to the Three Broomsticks for more butterbeer. And we’d go back in a heart beat.

But if Universal wants to put an extension charm on this Wizarding World and expand, we’ve got some ideas involving small rickety carts, goblins and Gringott’s tunnels. Give us a call. Or send an owl.

IF YOU GO

WHERE TO STAY

Orlando has no shortage of hotel options, including all the usual Marriotts, Embassy Suites and Sheratons. The Universal Resort — www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter — hotels, which are located next to the theme parks and Universal City Walk restaurant area, include the Portofino Bay (rates vary by season, but a double room is $344 and up in June), Hard Rock Hotel ($344) and Royal Pacific Resort ($289). The resort hotels offer early admission options, Express Passes and similar perks. Quality Inn International — 7600 International Drive, Orlando, 407-996-1600, www.orlandoqualityinn.com — is an older, but newly remodeled motel ($80 and up) with a swimming pool, convenience store, a Universal ticket package and free shuttle bus (limited times and space).

AT THE PARK

Check out the lines before you buy the Express Pass, which is available at stores throughout the Universal parks. The single-rider option speeds you to the front of the line and it’s free.

Try the butterbeer. The slushy frozen version is particularly welcome on a hot day — and it’s not cloyingly sweet.Eat at the Three Broomsticks. The atmospheric eatery has the best food in the park — plus, you’re eating rotisserie-smoked chicken, fish and chips, and shepherd’s pie in Harry’s favorite pub.

Visit Honeydukes on your way out to pick up Ton-Tongue Toffee, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean, chocolate frogs and other sweets. The chocolate is awesome, but it won’t survive the Florida heat.

When things get too crowded at HP World, go across the way to Universal Studios, which seems almost empty by comparison. Our favorite rides included Disaster, in which you get to be an extra in a ridiculous disaster movie, Men in Black (it’s dated, but still good fun) and perhaps best of all, The Simpsons Ride, a virtual roller coaster.

Catch “Harry Potter: The Exhibition” in New York City now through Sept. 5. The huge, traveling exhibit of movie costumes and props includes the Sword of Gryffindor, Death Eater masks, Hagrid’s hut and enough Potter memorabilia to delight any fan. Tickets are $19.50-$25, www.harrypotterexhibition.com.

Pose by Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross Station in London or take one of the city’s many Harry Potter tours. Or wait till 2012 and visit Leavesden Studios in Hertfordshire, England, where Warner Bros. is planning a “Making of Harry Potter” museum.

And, of course, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2” opens in theaters July 15.

Joan Morris is the pets & wildlife columnist for the Bay Area News Group. She also writes about gardening and is the founder of Our Garden, a demonstration garden in Walnut Creek. Morris started her career in 1978 as a reporter for a small New Mexico newspaper. She has lived in the Bay Area since 1988.